Louis Sheldon Visits a Shell Shop

On Sunday, our group had the pleasure of filming at Ferguson's Marine Specialties in Wilmington, CA. Ferguson's has been in Wilmington for over 40 years and were featured on Huell Howser's "California Gold" a few years ago. Louis visits this shop all the time. The founder Ralph, has been a mentor to Louis. Ralph's daughter, who is now the owner, is also a friend of Louis so we were excited to see the interactions and meet more people passionate about shells.

When I walked into the display room at the shop, I saw a small room filled with shells.
There where shells in shelves, in display cases, in baskets, in boxes and in decorations. There were shells of every size, shape, color and design. Along with shells, there were other marine specialties such as starfish, sea horses, and preserved sea life.
Behind the display room, there were warehouses of shells waiting to be cleaned (which they also have facilities for) and resold. It was incredible!
I have lived next to the ocean my whole life (in 5 different locations) so sea shells and sea life were an important part of my childhood. I had a small shell collection and did a science fair project where I identified my shells when I was in elementary school. Along with this, our house has always had shells and other seascape decorations in multiple rooms. When I saw the shells in Ferguson's I was captivated by the beauty and variety. I wanted to share this treasure chest with every one I knew. (After we left the shop, I called my mom and told her about the shells and if she ever needed any decorations, I knew where to get them.)
After being impressed by the collection, my second thought was how are we ever going to set up a 3 person interview in here with all these shells?? Luckily we had the help of Ryan (from the beautification team) to give his insight and suggestions. He and Donia set up a good interview shot despite the challenges. We had Louis sit in a chair next to Ralph and Lupe leaned on a display case behind them. In the background there were shells, which made an excellent backdrop. Donia and I set up our camera on a tripod and kept it at a wide angle with all 3 interviewees the whole time. Ryan moved around with his camera taking close up shots of faces, and other shots that looked very creative, which I am excited to see :) (THANKS RYAN!!!!)

The next big decision we had to make was who to mic? Since Ryan was there with his camera, we were able to have two lav mics and one shot gun set up. We decided to mic Ralph since he had the quietest voice and Louis, since he is the star of our film and we wanted him to always have a clear recording. I think this ended up working out, because Lupe talked loudly and the shot gun mic (which was pointed at her) seemed to pick her up clearly. The only thing that might be problematic from this set-up is some of the background noise. Right next to the interviewers was a fish tank and I could hear the motor running faintly in the background. This might be bad since Lupe's track might pick up that noise and she said a lot of good things that we probably will want to include. There is a possibility that her voice was also picked up on Louis' or Ralph's mic so we might be able to use that sound instead.

The interview material ended up being outstanding! Through the story of Ralph and Lupe we were able to meet two people who were also passionate about shells, but in a completely different way. Lupe kept talking about how her passion of shells came from within and it was something not everyone had. She loved shells because of the beauty (not science like Louis) and made crafts with shells. Lupe talked about the importance of hobbies in people's lives, including her own and her children's lives and how the hobby of shell collecting has been passed on to each generation. Ralph was quieter, but still some great things from the mind of an old man who has been collecting shells his whole life. We were also able to ask Ralph and Lupe what they thought about Louis and see some friendly banter and interactions. We talked about the shell club, the dying hobby of shell collecting, why people are interested in shells and so much more. All in all it was a great interview and a great day! I think it will be an excellent addition to grow the storyline of our film.

Pictures were borrowed from Ferguson's Website - Thank you Ralph and Lupe!